


Afterlife Friendships Can Be Strange

by kitkatkaylie



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Afterlife, Crack, Gen, Humour, Protective Catelyn Stark, Protective Robb Stark, Protective Siblings, Technically major character death, Unexpected Friendship, Uses Show canon mostly, because all of them are dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22203319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatkaylie/pseuds/kitkatkaylie
Summary: There isn't much to do in the afterlife, so sometimes the strangest of friendships can occur. The friendship between Robb Stark and Aegon Targaryen was definitely one of these, formed as they watched and judged their shared brother's life choices.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 117





	1. Robb and Aegon

**Author's Note:**

> So currently this is complete, but I might add more chapters if I get struck by inspiration for it. 
> 
> Please don't take this seriously, it is utter crack!

Other than watching the living and reuniting with loved ones,, there was actually very little to do in the afterlife. Robb watched his siblings a lot, but that got heart breaking after a while and sometimes even that was boring, so sometimes the stupidest arguments spawned.

“I’m the one who was actually his brother for years!”

Aegon scoffed, “That was by no fault of mine. I’m the one who is actually his brother.”

Robb ground his teeth as he looked at the Targaryen who was trying to take his brother away from him.

“You didn’t even know he existed until a few weeks ago.”

“Yes, because your father stole him and kept him hidden!”

Well that was just uncalled for. And blatantly untrue.

“My father kept Jon safe and hidden so he wouldn’t end up like your mother and sister. Like we thought you ended up.”

“Low blow Stark.”

The both of them suddenly flinched as they were hit around the back of the head.

“Shut up the pair of you. You’re both dead and nothing you say will affect my baby brother.”

They turned to see Rhaenys, her violet eyes flashing angrily as cats curled around her ankles. Robb was man enough to admit that she was slightly terrifying, and from the look on Aegon’s face he thought so as well.

“Sorry Rhae,” Aegon mumbled, “But Stark started it!”

That little shit. Robb’s fists clenched and he prepared to launch himself at the dead Targaryen when a hand clasped down on his shoulder with a familiar strength that reminded him of Winterfell and being caught shoving snow down his sister’s dress.

“Don’t even think about it Robb. You two are worse that Robert and Rhaegar, I swear to the gods.” The weary voice of his father intoned.

Robb flushed like he had when he was a boy at the sound of his father’s disapproval. A flush that deepened at the snickers of Aegon.

“That’s right Stark, listen to daddy like a good little pup.”

Robb knew what he was going to say was harsh but he did not care. There was a red haze around his vision, one that made everything seem

“At least my father cares about me and did not abandon my mother for a teenager.”

His father’s fingers tightened on his shoulder and he could feel the disappointment emanating off of him. Robb ducked his head in shame, perhaps he had gone too far.

Much to his surprise Aegon Targaryen merely laughed a bitter laugh, and lightly punched him in the arm.

“Shut up Stark.” He grinned, “Shall we go see what idiocy our little brother has got into this time?”

Robb grinned back at him, “Only if we stop by the Free Folk to get that girl Jon liked, her commentary is always funny, and the alcohol is always good.”

Their plans were scuppered when Jon appeared in front of them for a moment, his eyes wide and panicked, his face lined in a way that cause Robb’s heart to throb in pain. And then, just as he reached out for his brother, he disappeared once more.

“Father!” Robb called out, his hand still reaching towards where Jon had been just a moment before.

His father came running, and Robb knew that if weapons existed in the afterlife, his sword would have been drawn.

“What is it?”

“Jon, he, he was here, and now he isn’t.” Aegon said, confusion and worry in his voice and mirroring the expression on his face.

Robb kept looking at the space where Jon had been, where his brother had been for just a moment. And he hated himself for wishing his brother had stayed, hated what that would have meant, but at the same time he knew no more harm would come to Jon if he was dead.

“Perhaps he is like Beric Dondarrion.” Father said slowly, “Perhaps he has found the favour of a Red Priest.”

It would make sense, but what trouble Robb was why his brother would need such a thing in the first place.

Who would want to kill Jon?

* * *

“Ser Alliser Thorne?” Robb asked the man, he already knew who the man was but it did not hurt to check.

“Yes, that is my name. and who are you” The man looked down his nose slightly and Robb saw red.

“My name is Robb Stark, and this is Aegon Targaryen.” He gestured to Aegon who was stood beside him, “We are the brothers of the man you tried to have sent here.”

Thorne’s face paled as it truly dawned on him how much he had fucked up.

“Wait, are you saying Snow is a Targaryen?” He whispered.

Aegon smirked, “That he is.”

“Fuck me.”

Robb screwed up his face in distaste, “No thank you. I have no desire to lie with the man who stabbed my brother in the back.”

Aegon started to laugh at his words, while Thorne merely looked confused.

“Oi, Yer graces,” The delicate tones of Jon’s wildling yelled down the hall to them, “Yer gonna want to see this.”

Considering that Ygritte often refused to speak to them unless they were laughing about Jon or came baring gifts of strong alcohol the pair of them quickly moved to join her for whatever she was looking at must have been important.

And it was.

Sansa, sweet sad Sansa, had just entered the courtyard of Castle Black, somehow she had got away from the Boltons. Somehow she had found her way back to her family.

He watched with a wide grin as the two of his siblings that had never got on embraced in the courtyard, clutching each other like they were the only ones left. And Robb supposed, to them, they were. They did not know that Arya and Bran and Rickon still lived.

He watched for a moment longer, and noted that the sworn shield of his mother had seemed to have done as she asked. His mother would be pleased when he told her, that is if she did not already know.

“They’re holding each other quite tight.” Aegon observed with a shit eating grin, “And my baby brother does seem to like a red head, maybe there is more Targaryen in him than we thought.”

His meaning took a while to register in Robb’s head but when it did he launched himself at the laughing Targaryen.

“Why would you say something like that? Why would you make me suffer the picture you just put in my head?”

Aegon cackled and rolled out of the way and continued to taunt him about the possibility of something forming between Jon and Sansa.

Logically, Robb knew that he was just teasing him, that he did not think anything would happen, but that didn’t stop him from trying to make him shut his bloody mouth.

The yowling of a cat made their rolling on the floor trying to claw each other’s eyes out stop. They looked up and met Rhaenys’ smirking face and Robb was sure he was not the only one to feel a jolt of fear at the sight.

“If you two idiots are done rolling around on the floor, weren’t you going to make the men who killed our baby brother regret their existence?” Her tone was so reasonable it made Robb feel like a scolded child.

Aegon was the first to stand, and he offered Robb a hand up from the floor, which for once Robb took without grumbling. Rhaenys was right, they had more important things to worry about than their argument.

There were some people who still needed to learn that messing with Jon Snow was a mistake.


	2. Catelyn and Domeric

Catelyn Stark nee Tully liked to think that she was a Lady. She had no need to bear arms herself, her battles would be fought with words and smiles, not fists and weapons.

She did find herself rather disappointed however, that she did not know how to use a myriad of weaponry when the scum that had killed her baby boy, that had raped and tortured her daughter and burned her home entered the afterlife.

She had watched him die, watched as her sweet girl fed him to his own dogs, watched as he died in agonising pain and felt no remorse for the joy she felt at his screams. For the first time she felt gratitude over the Snow boy, as he helped Sansa get her revenge, as he tried to save her darling baby, as he let Sansa kill her tormenter without saying a word of protest.

And now he was in front of her, still writhing on the floor in pain, a bloodthirsty grin split her face. She turned to Rickon where he was clinging to her skirts and knelt down to look at him properly, she did not know how aging worked in the afterlife, only that as soon as he had seen her Rickon had become all of five again.

“Mama’s going to make the nasty man pay for hurting you, sweetling. Would you like to stay and watch or would you rather go find Robb or your father?”

Rickon looked up at her with eyes too old for his face, “Can we find Robb, mama?”

She pressed a kiss to his brow, “Of course we can my darling.”

Catelyn held out a hand and Rickon took it in his own, his hand so tiny against her palm, and it just worked to increase her burning hatred for the man on the floor.

She turned to the woman beside her, “Lyanna, do you mind making sure he doesn’t move until I get back?”

Her good-sister nodded with a feral smile, “I would be more than happy to. The shit won’t manage to disappear before you get your pound of flesh.”

Catelyn and Lyanna may not have always got along, but they were both fearless when it came to defending their cubs. If the men who had stabbed Jon Snow thought they were in pain after Robb had finished with them, they soon realised it was but a taste of what was to come after Lyanna got her hands on them.

(And how Catelyn had screamed at Ned when she found out that Jon Snow was his nephew and not his shame)

She led Rickon through the winding corridors of the afterlife until she found Robb, rolling on the floor and wrestling with Aegon Targaryen the same way he had used to with Theon or Jon Snow.

“Robb, sweetling, can you keep an eye on your baby brother for me?” Catelyn asked her son, pulling him away from his roughhousing with the Targaryen boy.

She did not understand his friendship with the boy, but it was good for him, he seemed lighter since befriending the lad then he had since they had received news of Ned’s arrest.

“Of course, mother.” Her sweet son pressed a kiss to her cheek, “Rickon can join my team, we’re trying to find out who is the best at Rats and Cats.”

Catelyn wanted to know who exactly was playing a child’s game to such a competitive degree, and who was on the other teams, but she did not ask. She merely allowed Robb to pick Rickon up and walk off with him to a group of others, including among their number the Targaryen boy and Renly Baratheon of all people.

Rickon waved at her over his shoulder and Catelyn waved back, tears filled her eyes at the sight of two of her darlings together, as though none of the wars had happened.

She could not weep over them yet though, not when she still had a man to make pay for what he did to her family.

Lyanna grinned at her wolfishly when she returned, and Catelyn was not ashamed to say she did so as well.

“He hasn’t moved yet; it takes time for those who died in agony to awaken fully here.” Lyanna assured her.

Catelyn moved so that when he woke up all that he would see was her face and her hair so similar to her daughter’s. the hair so similar to the one who had fed the bastard to his own dogs. They had bound him so he could not move, and now all that they could do was wait for him to awake. A wait that did not take very long at all.

“Sansa?” The bastard coughed as he looked up at her through bleary eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t go through with it.”

Catelyn bared her teeth at him, “I am not my daughter, and gods be good she will not be joining us here for many a year. You are dead Ramsay Snow, eaten by your own hounds, but now your true punishment begins.”

Snow barked out a laugh, “You think you can scare me? My own father killed you while I took your home and daughter for my own, you should be scared of me you wolf bitch.”

She did not say anything, merely lifted her foot and quite deliberately stood on his balls. His cry of pain was most satisfying.

“You should be scared, Snow. I might not have the inventiveness that you do, but I am patient, and I have all the time in the world to make you pay for what you did to my children.”

She kicked him in the stomach next, until he was curled into a ball and whimpering in pain.

“Is this the shit that tortured my son into madness?”

The words caused Catelyn to turn and to her surprise she saw Alannys Greyjoy stood there, the haze of madness gone from her eyes, replaced by rage.

“It is, Lady Greyjoy.” Catelyn answered, “Would you like to join me in making him pay for the harm he did to our children?”

“I should be delighted to.” Lady Greyjoy snarled, looking as fierce as any man from her islands was said to be.

* * *

When she finally left Snow curled up on the floor, bloodied and battered and bruised with a line of people waiting to continue his pain, a man she did not expect to see approached her.

“That was rather vicious, my lady.” There was something in Domeric Bolton’s voice, something Catelyn was hesitant to call respect, yet she did not know what else it could be.

“He caused harm to my babies; he deserved every last bit of it.” She replied simply, looking the brother of the man she had just attacked straight in the eye.

“Oh, I don’t blame you at all, Lady Stark.” The man smiled, “In fact, I came to congratulate you. My bastard brother brought dishonour to the family name, and it is good to see he received his comeuppance.”

A smile found its way to Catelyn’s lips, an expression she had never imagined showing to a Bolton, not after Roose Bolton stabbed her son in the heart.

“Well, I thank you then.” Catelyn took the arm he offered, “I know it was not particularly ladylike, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

Domeric Bolton laughed at that, “I’m sure many people are going to take the opportunity to get some revenge on my bastard brother now that he is here, and since I’m pretty sure he is the reason I’m here in the first place, I don’t find myself too inclined to help him.”

Catelyn laughed at that, “No, that would rather put one off. But if you would excuse me, my lord, my youngest is still in need of me and I do not want to leave him for too long.”

“Of course, my lady.” Bolton bowed his head, “It is well known how important your children are to you. I would not keep you from them. Might I escort you to your sons?”

Catelyn let him, his presence would work well to keep Roose Bolton away for everyone recalled the screaming fit that had occurred upon his death, the sheer disappointment his son had held for Roose and his choices. It had been quite the spectacle, one that Catelyn had greatly enjoyed.

She was quite pleased to see that Robb had not let his baby brother out of his sight, even while rushing around playing games with the other young lords that had died too soon. It was quite the sight indeed to see these men who had commanded armies or been cut down as babes play a convoluted version of a child’s game.

“Mama!” Her sweet baby boy called as soon as he saw her. He tugged his hand away from Robb’s and rushed over to her as fast as he could on his little legs.

“Hello sweetling,” Catelyn said, pulling him close and contenting herself with the feel of him in her arms, “Did you have a nice time playing with Robb?”

Rickon nodded eagerly and fisted a hand in her skirts as she let go of him to stand back up. His eyes suddenly went wide and he ducked behind her so that he was hidden by the swathes of fabric and she guessed he had seen her companion.

Fear pierced her heart at a Bolton being near her sweet baby, even if this Bolton had the Ryswell look. But it seemed like he could tell how fearful she was for he kept his body language loose and open as he knelt before Rickon.

“Hello there, little prince.” Domeric Bolton said softly.

Rickon slowly let go of her skirts and approached the lord.

“Who’re you?” He asked, his face screwed up in suspicion.

“My name is Domeric, Domeric Bolton. And I would like to pass on my apologies for whatever my bastard brother did to you and your sister.” The young lord’s voice was sincere and he did sound genuinely apologetic.

Rickon just nodded at him and scurried behind her skirts once more, and Catelyn could not have stopped the apologetic smile from forming on her face even if she had wanted to.

“I am sorry, but Rickon is shy these days, it takes time for him to warm up to people.”

Domeric smiled at her, “It is no problem, my lady, I should have been more concerned had he looked upon me favourably.” His face suddenly gained a boyish sort of nervousness, “Might I speak with you again, my lady? Only none will speak with me for the name I hold, and I have no desire to speak with my father.”

Catelyn’s smile turned motherly, he really was no older than her Robb and it seemed cruel to condemn someone for their family name when they had not even been alive when their family’s betrayals occurred.

“Of course, my lord. I should be happy to speak with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a note on aging in this fic: people can be whatever age they want (normally it's a subconscious choice and the age with the best memories hence Rickon being five) in some cases though (Aegon and Rhaenys most notably) they continued to age to some extent as they interacted with more people. Its kinda confusing but the best explanation I have (other than because plot!)
> 
> On a different note, if there are any character interactions you might want to see let me know and I'll see if they spark inspiration!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you want to talk to me about this fic or in general find me on tumblr @istaricelebelasse


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